X-Message-Number: 30840 Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:24:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Subject: Reversal of aging by NFkappaB blockade [At the very least, in addition to vitamin D depletion, NFkappaB upregulation seems to be partly responsible for increases in cancer risk with age.] Cell Cycle. 2008 Mar;7(5):556-9. Epub 2007 Dec 26. Reversal of aging by NFkappaB blockade. Adler AS, Kawahara TL, Segal E, Chang HY. Program in Epithelial Biology and Cancer Biology Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA. Genetic studies in model organisms such as yeast, worms, flies, and mice leading to lifespan extension suggest that longevity is subject to regulation. In addition, various system-wide interventions in old animals can reverse features of aging. To better understand these processes, much effort has been put into the study of aging on a molecular level. In particular, genome-wide microarray analysis of differently aged individual organisms or tissues has been used to track the global expression changes that occur during normal aging. Although these studies consistently implicate specific pathways in aging processes, there is little conservation between the individual genes that change. To circumvent this problem, we have recently developed a novel computational approach to discover transcription factors that may be responsible for driving global expression changes with age. We identified the transcription factor NFkappaB as a candidate activator of aging-related transcriptional changes in multiple human and mouse tissues. Genetic blockade of NFkappaB in the skin of chronologically aged mice reversed the global gene expression program and tissue characteristics to those of young mice, demonstrating for the first time that disruption of a single gene is sufficient to reverse features of aging, at least for the short-term. PMID: 18256548 Genes Dev. 2007 Dec 15;21(24):3244-57. Epub 2007 Nov 30. Motif module map reveals enforcement of aging by continual NF-kappaB activity. Adler AS, Sinha S, Kawahara TL, Zhang JY, Segal E, Chang HY. Program in Epithelial Biology and Cancer Biology Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA. Aging is characterized by specific alterations in gene expression, but their underlying mechanisms and functional consequences are not well understood. Here we develop a systematic approach to identify combinatorial cis-regulatory motifs that drive age-dependent gene expression across different tissues and organisms. Integrated analysis of 365 microarrays spanning nine tissue types predicted fourteen motifs as major regulators of age-dependent gene expression in human and mouse. The motif most strongly associated with aging was that of the transcription factor NF-kappaB. Inducible genetic blockade of NF-kappaB for 2 wk in the epidermis of chronologically aged mice reverted the tissue characteristics and global gene expression programs to those of young mice. Age-specific NF-kappaB blockade and orthogonal cell cycle interventions revealed that NF-kappaB controls cell cycle exit and gene expression signature of aging in parallel but not sequential pathways. These results identify a conserved network of regulatory pathways underlying mammalian aging and show that NF-kappaB is continually required to enforce many features of aging in a tissue-specific manner. PMID: 18055696 J Mol Biol. 2008 Jan 18;375(3):637-49. Epub 2007 Oct 10. Prevention of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure by silencing of NF-kappaB. Gupta S, Young D, Maitra RK, Gupta A, Popovic ZB, Yong SL, Mahajan A, Wang Q, Sen S. Department of Molecular Cardiology, Lerner Research Institute, NB50, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. Activation of the nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB signaling pathway may be associated with the development of cardiac hypertrophy and its transition to heart failure (HF). The transgenic Myo-Tg mouse develops hypertrophy and HF as a result of overexpression of myotrophin in the heart associated with an elevated level of NF-kappaB activity. Using this mouse model and an NF-kappaB-targeted gene array, we first determined the components of NF-kappaB signaling cascade and the NF-kappaB-linked genes that are expressed during the progression to cardiac hypertrophy and HF. Second, we explored the effects of inhibition of NF-kappaB signaling events by using a gene knockdown approach: RNA interference through delivery of a short hairpin RNA against NF-kappaB p65 using a lentiviral vector (L-sh-p65). When the short hairpin RNA was delivered directly into the hearts of 10-week-old Myo-Tg mice, there was a significant regression of cardiac hypertrophy, associated with a significant reduction in NF-kappaB activation and atrial natriuretic factor expression. Our data suggest, for the first time, that inhibition of NF-kappaB using direct gene delivery of sh-p65 RNA results in regression of cardiac hypertrophy. These data validate NF-kappaB as a therapeutic target to prevent hypertrophy/HF. PMID: 18037434 [There are plenty of NFkappab inhibitors in fruits.] J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Nov 14;55(23):9678-84. Epub 2007 Oct 19. Myricetin down-regulates phorbol ester-induced cyclooxygenase-2 expression in mouse epidermal cells by blocking activation of nuclear factor kappa B. Lee KM, Kang NJ, Han JH, Lee KW, Lee HJ. Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Center for Agricultural Biomaterials, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Republic of Korea. Abnormal expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been implicated in the development of cancer. There are multiple lines of evidence that red wine exerts chemopreventive effects, and 3,5,4'-trihydroxy- trans-stilbene (resveratrol), which is a non-flavonoid polyphenol found in red wine, has been reported to be a natural chemopreventive agent. However, other phytochemicals might contribute to the cancer-preventive activities of red wine, and the flavonol content of red wines is about 30 times higher than that of resveratrol. Here we report that 3,3',4',5,5',7-hexahydroxyflavone (myricetin), one of the major flavonols in red wine, inhibits 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (phorbol ester)-induced COX-2 expression in JB6 P+ mouse epidermal (JB6 P+) cells by suppressing activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). Myricetin at 10 and 20 microM inhibited phorbol ester-induced upregulation of COX-2 protein, while resveratrol at the same concentration did not exert significant effects. The phorbol ester-induced production of prostaglandin E 2 was also attenuated by myricetin treatment. Myricetin inhibited both COX-2 and NF-kappaB transactivation in phorbol ester-treated JB6 P+ cells, as determined using a luciferase assay. Myricetin blocked the phorbol ester-stimulated DNA binding activity of NF-kappaB, as determined using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Moreover, TPCK (N-tosyl-l-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone), a NF-kappaB inhibitor, significantly attenuated COX-2 expression and NF-kappaB promoter activity in phorbol ester-treated JB6 P+ cells. In addition, red wine extract inhibited phorbol ester-induced COX-2 expression and NF-kappaB transactivation in JB6 P+ cells. Collectively, these data suggest that myricetin contributes to the chemopreventive effects of red wine through inhibition of COX-2 expression by blocking the activation of NF-kappaB. PMID: 17944529 Anticancer Res. 2007 Mar-Apr;27(2):937-48. Inhibition of cancer cell proliferation and suppression of TNF-induced activation of NFkappaB by edible berry juice. Boivin D, Blanchette M, Barrette S, Moghrabi A, B liveau R. Laboratoire de M decine Mol culaire, H pital Ste-Justine-UQAM, Centre de Canc rologie Charles-Bruneau, Centre de Recherche de l'H pital Sainte-Justine, 3175, Chemin C te-Sainte-Catherine, Montr al, Qu bec, Canada. BACKGROUND: Berries contain several phytochemicals, such as phenolic acids, proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins and other flavonoids. There has been growing interest in a variety of potential chemopreventive activities of edible berries. The potential chemopreventive activity of a variety of small berries cultivated or collected in the province of Qu bec, Canada were evaluated here. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Strawberry, raspberry, black currant, red currant, white currant, gooseberry, high-bush blueberry, low-bush blueberry, velvet leaf blueberry, serviceberry, blackberry, black chokeberry, sea buckthorn and cranberry were evaluated for antioxidant capacity, anti-proliferative activity, anti-inflammatory activity, induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. RESULTS: The growth of various cancer cell lines, including those of stomach, prostate, intestine and breast, was strongly inhibited by raspberry, black currant, white currant, gooseberry, velvet leaf blueberry, low-bush blueberry, sea buckthorn and cranberry juice, but not (or only slightly) by strawberry, high-bush blueberry, serviceberry, red currant, or blackberry juice. No correlation was found between the anti-proliferative activity of berry juices and their antioxidant capacity (p > 0.05). The inhibition of cancer cell proliferation by berry juices did not involve caspase-dependent apoptosis, but appeared to involve cell-cycle arrest, as evidenced by down-regulation of the expression of cdk4, cdk6, cyclin D1 and cyclin D3. Of the 13 berries tested, juice of 6 significantly inhibited the TNF-induced activation of COX-2 expression and activation of the nuclear transcription factor NFkappaB. CONCLUSION: These results illustrate that berry juices have striking differences in their potential chemopreventive activity and that the inclusion of a variety of berries in the diet might be useful for preventing the development of tumors. PMID: 17465224 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=30840